Alibaba Bolsters Global Presence by Investing $2 Billion in Turkey’s Trendyol

Alibaba has announced plans to invest $2 billion in Turkey’s Trendyol as part of its expansion strategy outside of China. The Chinese tech giant, after a meeting with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, revealed its intention to boost its business in Turkey. As part of the investment, Alibaba will establish a data center in Ankara and an export operations center at Istanbul airport. Additionally, the company plans to set up a logistics center in Ankara.

Alibaba already has a significant stake in Trendyol, with an 86.5% ownership. The e-commerce platform is home to over 250,000 merchants and offers around 200 million products. This investment further strengthens Alibaba’s presence in the international market.

The company’s international commerce unit has experienced rapid growth, with a 41% increase in revenue for the latest quarter ending June 30. This growth can be attributed in part to the success of Trendyol and Lazada, another investment of Alibaba’s focused on Southeast Asia.

Aside from Alibaba, Trendyol has received investments from notable firms such as SoftBank Group, General Atlantic, Qatar Investment Authority, and Abu Dhabi sovereign fund ADQ. These partnerships signify the potential and significance of the e-commerce platform in the global market.

In terms of market performance, Alibaba’s American depositary receipts (ADRs) experienced a slight decrease of 0.7% in early trading on Monday, with a 6% decline for the year so far. Despite this, Alibaba’s expansion efforts and investments continue to showcase its ambition for growth and expansion beyond China.